What Is Mindfulness?

Mindfulness was originally created over 2,000 years ago, as an ancient Buddhist meditation practice to deal with some of the universal and inevitable challenges faced by everyone, such as getting older, becoming sick, and other forms of change[i]. Mindfulness has emerged as arguably the most common and most effective form of dealing with a wide range of challenges in mental healthcare. Some of the leading treatments that integrate mindfulness-based techniques include mindfulness-based stress reduction, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy[ii].Over the last few decades, research into mindfulness has generated a wealth of empirically supported studies suggesting mindfulness can help improve people’s thoughts, behaviors, emotions, relationships, coping, physical functioning, and the basic structures that undergird a vast array of challenges and mental illnesses. Researchers have discovered that mindfulness is a clinical treatment for suffering that is often otherwise pervasive in human existence. As the noted neuropsychiatrist Dr. Dan Siegel observes: "For some people, this living on automatic is a routine way of life. If our attention is on something other than what we are doing for most of our lives we can come to feel empty and numb. As automatic thinking dominates our subjective sense of the world, life becomes repetitive and dull. Instead of experience having an emergent feeling of fresh discovery, as a child sensing the world for the first time, we come to feel dead inside, dead before we die. Living on automatic also places us at risk of mindlessly reacting to situations without reflecting on various options of response. The result can often be knee-jerk reactions that in turn initiate similar mindless reflexes in others. A cascade of reinforcing mindlessness can create a world of thoughtless interactions, cruelty, and destruction[iii]."Mindfulness is defined and utilized in many different empirically supported ways. The neurologist and researcher Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as, “The awareness that emerges through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally to the unfolding of experience moment to moment.”[iv] Mindfulness is a practical, meditative practice that can also be a way of dealing with life challenges and changes. Some things can be changed, and some things can’t be changed. Thankfully mindfulness offers a clear, practical methodology of experiencing and embracing life, in the process cultivating gratitude, compassion, and equanimity in the face of difficulties. By learning how to change the way we relate to ourselves, others, and difficult situations, mindfulness can help us embrace life and live more fully.Because mindfulness is empirically validated and so popular in our wider culture, many therapists will present themselves as being skilled in mindfulness-based techniques. However, leading mindfulness researchers and clinicians strongly advocate that therapists who wish to assist clients with mindfulness interventions have their own consistent personal mindfulness practice and professional training.[v] The pioneers of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy have been candid in sharing that they initially believed their training as doctoral-level psychologists would be enough for them to train others in the practice of mindfulness.[vi] They relate, however, that when they initially tried to teach mindfulness without having their own mindfulness practice they were extremely unsuccessful, and they learned that to teach mindfulness they must first have their own ongoing mindfulness practice and professional, specialized training. I have studied and practiced mindfulness in a wide array of contexts for many years. Mindfulness meditation was the subject of my doctoral studies in clinical psychology and my earlier Masters degree from Harvard. I have a certificate in mindfulness stress reduction and have led hundreds of mindfulness seminars in a variety of settings such as universities, hospitals, businesses, and in my work as a therapist. I have also studied mindfulness in Asia, and have published several articles related to mindfulness, in addition to my recent manuscript I am writing for Wisdom Publications. For clients who are interested, I have seen mindfulness be helpful in transforming a wide range of challenges. In my fields of training, I have come to see mindfulness as a lifetime cultivation of compassion and insight to understand the challenges and opportunities of human existence.Some research on mindfulnessOne way to define mindfulness is as “a particular way of paying attention” and “a way of looking deeply into oneself in the spirit of self-inquiry and self-understanding.[vii]” Mindfulness can be done in brief, targeted approaches, or in a wider more encompassing methodology. One way it operates is by interrupting cognitive, emotional, and behavioral cycles that cause difficulty. Mindfulness also provides more control over where one chooses to place one’s awareness. Mindfulness seeks to instill a transformation whereby people are not merely directed by uncontrolled, automatic processes. Clients hopefully become empowered to see and experience themselves as having cognitive and emotional experiences, but simultaneously being more than just their experiences. For example, instead of a person simply thinking, “I am failing,” mindfulness processing becomes “This is a mental state in which I view myself as failing.” Instead of being controlled by sadness, mindful processing becomes “This is an emotional state of experiencing sadness.” Clients begin to see and experience directly the rich tapestry of ever changing thoughts, emotions, and experiences. Thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations may be important, but no one thought, emotion, sensation, or event, no matter how powerful, comprises the entirety of one’s existence. Consequently, mindfulness becomes a powerful, practical tool to overcome experiences such as shame and regret.Initially, leading researchers felt moved to integrate mindfulness in mental healthcare in part because of the high rate of relapse from earlier forms of counseling.[viii] Mindfulness-based approaches have demonstrated empirical support for depression,[ix] anxiety-related concerns,[x] substance abuse,[xi] stress-reduction,[xii] and a wide range of concerns including chronic pain, weight loss, and cancer management.[xiii] Mindfulness-based interventions have been utilized with challenges such as schizophrenia,[xiv] psychosis,[xv] and post traumatic stress.[xvi] Mindfulness has also been adapted for adolescents[xvii] and family therapy.[xviii]